AMC president and general manager Charlie Collier broke his silence on last week’s finale of The Killing, saying the network didn’t anticipate such a strong backlash among some viewers and critics.

“We underestimated the passion of viewers have for closure within this season,” Collier says. “It was never our intention to misguide the viewer. The audience has an important voice, we heard them and don’t take them for granted.”

The critically acclaimed first season of The Killing teased viewers with the tagline for its central mystery “Who Killed Rosie Larsen?” then declined to solve the case in the finale, instead rolling the story into next season in a last-minute twist. The show plans to introduce a new mystery at the start of season 2 and then solve the Larsen case.

Collier spearheaded the network’s rise to become a top outlet for quality drama series, ordering shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. He says if the network could have done anything differently, it would have been to do more to prevent viewers from expecting the murder to be solved in the season closer. “I stand by [showrunner] Veena Sud, and risk-taking is what we do; cliffhangers are a staple of TV and a huge part of mysteries,” Collier says. “If I could do anything differently, it would be to manage expectations.”